


The Troublesome Trials of Tiberius Kirk

by GiuGiu



Series: Itty Bitty Spaceman [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Space Husbands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-07-16 13:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16086830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiuGiu/pseuds/GiuGiu
Summary: “Saaaaaa-mekh.” Tiberius cries, laying back on his rug. Why can’t his parents let him work in peace? Uncle Bones was right, they’re insurfable. “I ma tor shaht k' t'nash-veh dinos!” I have to finish with my dinos!Or, the challenges that come with raising a Human-Vulcan hybrid child on an isolated starship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! Let me just say that writing from the point of view of a three-year-old is not easy, I've just been going off of what I know but please tell me if you see an inconsistency.
> 
> I have big plans for Tiberius but for right now he's itty bitty and dealing with some stuff that most toddlers don't have to deal with unfortunately. This is not always a happy story, but I try to keep it light.

Tiberius Kirk is busy. Super, super busy. So when his dad puts his hands on his hips and repeats “bedtime” for the fourth time tonight, Tiberius pretends he can’t hear him. Which is silly because he can hear. But maybe his dad doesn’t know that.

 

“I know you can hear me, Ty.” Oh no. Tiberius sticks his tongue out in defiance and returns to his task. He’s too busy for bed!

 

“Don’t make me get Sa-mekh.” Dad threatens. Tiberius feels his throat getting that bad sticky feeling that happens when he cries. 

 

He tries the thing that worked that one time and blurts “Trasha me sa'awek!”  _ Leave me alone! _ Sometimes Dad thinks it’s cute when he speaks Vulcan. Dad sighs and leaves, it worked! Tiberius lines up another ancient Terran lizard (Dad calls them “dinos”) on his rug. Keeping all his dinos in line is tough, he reaches up to swipe his brown curls out of his face. 

 

“Tiberius.” Oh no. Tiberius puts a pterodactyl next to a triceratops. They look like friends, he thinks, maybe it’s because they’re both blue? “Tiberius, it is time to begin your nighttime routine.” Ugh!

 

“Saaaaaa-mekh.” Tiberius cries, laying back on his rug. Why can’t his parents let him work in peace? Uncle Bones was right, they’re insurfable. “I ma tor shaht k' t'nash-veh dinos!”  _ I have to finish with my dinos! _

 

Sa-mekh looks at him, then his dinos. “Ra bolau nam-tor ovsoh tor ovsotik nash ar'tu?”  _ What must be done to complete this project? _

 

Tiberius knows exactly what he needs to do with his dinos. But… “Um. I bolaya tor…”  _ I need to _ , ugh! Vulcan is hard, he switches back to Standard. “My dinos are in a parade!” Sa-mekh looks at his dinos again. Then nods.

 

“Explain.” Tiberius can’t help the grin that spreads across his face.

 

“Ok. My dinos are in a parade!” He points to the neat lines of dinos on the rug, it’s a parade! 

 

Suddenly, Dad is back. But instead of looking angry (Tiberius hates angry) he looks… not angry. “What kind of parade?” Dad asks. Tiberius squints at him, but Dad doesn’t say anything about bedtime. So Tiberius takes a deep breath like Uncle Bones does sometimes, it’s so obvious, but he answers anyways.

 

“A friend parade.”

 

“A friend parade?” 

 

Tiberius nods and starts a new row with an ichthyosaurus. “Yeah, that’s how they find friends.” He smiles at the green tyrannosaurus-rex. When he looks back up at his parents they have sad faces. Why? Tiberius defensively clutches a velociraptor to his chest, are they gonna take his dinos?

 

“Okay, Spaceman,” Dad says, that’s what Dad calls him sometimes. It’s a… nicked name? “Can we help set up your parade?”

 

Tiberius chews on his bottom lip while he thinks about it. His Dad and Sa-mekh will probably mess it all up, but he doesn’t want to go to bed yet… “Okay, hi I'm wuh feihan!”  _ But I’m the boss!  _

 

Five minutes later, Tiberius surveys his rug. Some of his Dad’s rows are crooked. And his Sa-mekh put a red allosaurus next to a yellow stegosaurus (is he crazy!) but the parade is set up and his eyes are starting to feel really heavy. So when Dad says “bedtime” for the fifth time tonight, Tiberius yawns and puts on the purple tribble pajamas from Auntie Ota and crawls into bed. Sa-mekh reads him a story about a girl who kisses a Terran amphibian and Dad kisses his forehead and asks the computer to turn off the lights.

 

The stars shine through his window, making his shadowy room glow in whites and silvers. On the floor his dinos make a bright splash of inviting color.

 

_ _ _

 

“I like your hair. Blue is a pretty hair color.” Tiberius whispers to Nancy. His friend smiles at him in delight, her red skin bright and cheery.

 

“Wanna play dinos?” She asks. Tiberius bounces his head up and down in agreement. Dinos!

 

He and Nancy start to lay his dinos out on the rug. Tiberius is mostly listening to her, Nancy has a lot to say about the green dinos, but he’s also kinda listening to his Dad and Sa-mekh. They’ve been whispering in the hallway for awhile now and Tiberius would normally investigate but he doesn’t want to leave Nancy, she’s so much fun! 

 

He hears his Sa-mekh whisper something about “...not abnormal for human children…”

 

“This dino is married to this dino!” Nancy chimes next to him, shoving said dinos into his face. Tiberius laughs and starts to set up the wedding.

 

“...those studies are for older children Spock!” his Dad whisper yells at Sa-mekh. He is not good at whispering, Tiberius thinks. “...three-year-olds don’t usually have imaginary friends… what if something’s wrong?”

 

Tiberius frowns as he takes the green dino bride from Nancy, are his parents mad? That’s not good. 

 

“Jim, I know you are suggesting Tiberius is lonely but studies find that loneliness and imaginary friends are not correlated.” Sa-mekh’s voice sounds louder, so Tiberius knows, without turning to look, that his parents are looking through his door again. They’ve been doing that, especially when Nancy visits.

 

“Nancy,” he whispers, “do you wanna sleepover?” He feels his heart beat faster in his side while he waits for her to decide. Nancy bites her lip and squeezes a dino.

 

“Can we eat pizza?” She asks. Tiberius nods, his parents let him use the replicator sometimes. “Ok! I’ll sleepover!” Tiberius lets out a squeal of delight and hugs her. 

 

He can feel his parents looking at him.

 

_ _ _

 

“Auntie Ota, can you put salt on Nancy’s pizza for her?” Tiberius asks, glad that Auntie Ota and Uncle Bones are sitting next to him. Dad and Sa-mekh are working tonight, but Tiberius doesn’t mind.

 

“Sure thing, hon.” 

 

“Nancy says ‘thanks.’”

 

“You’re welcome, Nancy.” Tiberius smiles at Auntie Ota, she’s the best. Uncle Bones whispers something to Auntie Ota before turning to look at him.

 

“Ty, you think you could draw a picture of Nancy for us?” Tiberius frowns and looks at Nancy. Why would Uncle Bones want a picture of her? 

 

“Po tor Uncle Bones aitlun wuh bikuv?”  _ Why does Uncle Bones want a picture?  _ He hears Uncle Bones make that funny sound when he let’s all his air out, it makes him giggle. Uncle Bones doesn’t understand when he speaks Vulcan, not like his parents and Auntie Ota do.

 

“Au tishau Nancy heh aitlu wuh bikuv t' ish-veh na' ish-veh tvi-shal.”  _ He likes Nancy and wants a picture of her for his room. _ “He wants you to draw it because you’re such a good artist. You can be in the picture too, if you want.”

 

Tiberius lets all his own air out to see how it feels. Then he shoves a piece of pepperoni in his mouth. “Okay,” he finally says with the pepperoni half-way chewed up. Uncle Bones hands him a PADD to draw on.

  
  


As he draws, Nancy gets up from the table. “Where are you going?” Is she leaving? She promised to sleep over!

 

“I want to go home.” She says. Tiberius feels his throat get sticky and his eyes get wet. That’s not fair!

“No! No! You can’t go home! You promised to stay!” He screams, and he knows everyone in the mess hall is looking at him and Nancy now. Good! Maybe someone will make her stay.

 

“Ty…” Uncle Bones says but Tiberius ignores him. He wants to scream more and make Nancy stay.

 

“You can’t go, you can’t go, you can’t go!” But Nancy is running now. “I fnu-ven du!”  _ I hate you!  _ He screams, a monster is roaring in his chest and making his tongue feel loose. Tears are turning his face wet and salty, it itches. He gets up to chase Nancy as she leaves the room but suddenly Uncle Bones is in front of him.

 

His uncle pulls him into a hug, it’s nice but… “I want Daddy,” he sobs into Uncle Bones’ soft blue shirt. A hiccup tears through his throat.

 

“I know Bub, but Daddy is working right now.” Tiberius screams into his uncle’s chest. He’s still angry! And he’s sad! And he wants Dad and Sa-mekh! But especially Dad, Dad is good when Tiberius is super sad. He can make Tiberius feel better and laugh.

 

“You know what, Ty?” Auntie Ota asks. “I think I can get Sa-mekh to visit us for a few minutes, how does that sound?”

 

“Noooo. I wanna see Daddy.” He still has his face pressed deep into Uncle Bones’ blue shirt and he isn’t planning on taking it out.

 

“Nyota,” Uncle Bones whispers, “You know they’re in a meeting for the next hour!”

 

“If I make something up the admiralty will let Spock leave for five minutes, they don’t care as long as Jim is there!” She whispers back. Grown-ups forget he can hear all the time, unless he wants them to forget, then they know he can hear. 

 

If Dad and Sa-mekh are in a meeting he might get in trouble if they have to leave it to see him. He doesn’t want to get in trouble! Auntie Ota is gonna get in him in trouble!

 

Without thinking, Tiberius raises an arm to deliver a blow to Uncle Bones’ side. And then another and another until Auntie Ota grabs him from behind and hugs him so hard he can’t move his arms.

 

“No, Tiberius! We don’t hit!” She says in his ear, her words are wet and fast. Everyone in the mess hall is whispering now and Tiberius doesn’t like it. The whispers are making his skin crawl and his face feels even itchier. He starts to wiggle, maybe he can get free! He doesn’t want to be touched anymore! 

 

Auntie Ota grunts as he elbows her but she just holds him tighter. Away from his ear she asks “Are you alright, Len?” she isn’t talking to him. Tiberius tries to bite her but she starts to bounce him up and down and he can’t line up his mouth with her arm.

 

Through the urgent haze in his brain screaming  _ ESCAPE RUN HIT  _ he hears Uncle Bones say something about _ hobgoblin blood _ and  _ bruised ribs _ and  _ comming Spock _ . No! He’s gonna be in so much trouble. He swings his foot backwards and it connects with Auntie Ota’s knee. She drops him with a sharp cry. Tiberius runs without looking back.

 

_ _ _

 

“Stars are balls of gas. They stay together because graviviy pushes on them. They’re too hot to touch. But Sa-mekh says that Vulcan was hot too, and he used to live there. Before it got sucked up. So maybe I could live on a star someday.” He tells Uncle Pasha. After he ran away from Auntie Ota and Uncle Bones he found Uncle Pasha on the observation deck. Uncle Pasha had been sitting at a table, doing important grown-up stuff on his PADD but when he saw Tiberius he put the PADD away and offered him a seat.

 

“Hmm.” Uncle Pasha says, his eyes are on the distant stars. Tiberius likes that Uncle Pasha is always serious when he shares his ideas. Some grown-ups laugh or do that annoying smiley thing that means they think he’s silly, or they just explain how he’s wrong. But not Uncle Pasha. “I zhink your logic is good. What would you do on a star?”

 

Tiberius grins, and his face still feels a little itchy and tight but he’s so happy he doesn’t care. “I would start an academy!” He has the urge to jump from his chair and zoom around the table, so he does.

 

“Why would you start an academy? Zhat’s a lot of work.” His uncle says, his eyes follow Tiberius as he circles around and around their table. Tiberius brakes to answer.

 

“Academies are where people meet people. Like Dad and Sa-mekh.” Duh. He resumes his solo race.

 

“Tiberius.” Oh no. Sa-mekh’s familial bond is being shielded from him, but Sa-mekh’s face looks… angry? Tiberius thinks it looks angry, but it’s hard to tell with Sa-mekh. “Let us return to our quarters. Thank you for watching him Ensign Chekov.” Tiberius doesn’t want to go to his room, Sa-mekh will try to talk to him about stuff he doesn’t wanna talk about! He lets out the air in his lungs again, like Uncle Bones, and feels a bit better.

 

He stomps his way to the captain’s and commander’s connected quarters. His Sa-mekh’s steps sound so quiet, sometimes Tiberius has to look back and see if he’s still there. When they reach the door that leads to Tiberius’ room, Sa-mekh nudges him forwards and they enter through his Dad and Sa-mekh’s door. This room is supposed to be just for the captain, Uncle Bones had told him once, but his parents share it and he gets the room that’s for the commander. They’re attached with a bathroom they get to share, which is nice when Tiberius has a bad dream. But it’s not always good. Tiberius drags his feet when Sa-mekh says to sit at the desk.

 

The desk is where his parents talk about serious work things and serious Tiberius things. Serious Tiberius. That rhymes! He almost giggles.

 

Sa-mekh sits across from him, on the side of the desk that has the computer. “Tiberius, I would like to hear about your evening.” 

 

Tiberius doesn’t say anything. He looks up at the ceiling instead. But grown-ups always remember he can hear when they want him to hear. “Tiberius, let me rephrase. I am aware of what happened in the mess hall. In fact, you may be interested to learn that your aunt and uncle both sustained injuries from your tantrum.” His sa-mekh raises one pointed eyebrow and leans slightly closer across the desk. “So, I would like to hear what happened from your point of view.”

 

His eyes are getting wet and his throat is stuck. He opens his mouth to say  _ sorry, sorry, sorry _ ! He never wanted to hurt Auntie Ota and Uncle Bones! He didn’t mean it! But instead a sob comes out. And then another. And before he knows it his chest is heaving and his eyes are streaming and he can’t control any of it!

 

Sa-mekh moves to the other side of the desk and lifts Tiberius out of his chair so that he can sit there and places Tiberius in his lap. Tiberius immediately burrows into his Sa-mekh’s chest, he’s wearing a soft blue shirt like Uncle Bones was. Which makes him cry even harder.

 

When he opens his eyes again the lights are off and he’s in his bed. And Sa-mekh is meditating in the corner next to his dinos. He lets his air out and brushes his curls out of his eyes. Suddenly, Sa-mekh’s eyes open! Oh no! Tiberius really doesn’t want to talk about anything anymore. But his sa-mekh is already getting up and sitting on the edge of his bed. Tiberius lets himself fall backwards and land on his pillow with a thump.

 

“Tiberius. Your aunt and uncle said you got into a fight with… Nancy. Is this true?” Tiberius nods, his eyes never leave the ceiling. He doesn’t wanna talk about this stuff! He feels the monster start to move around in his chest.

 

Thankfully, his sa-mekh changes the subject. “I know you struggle with meditation, however, I believe I have found an alternative. Have you heard of yoga?” Tiberius can’t help it when he takes his eyes off the ceiling to look at Sa-mekh. Yoga? No, he shakes his head, he’s never heard of that.

 

It turns out that yoga is a lot like meditation. But instead of sitting and sorting stuff out with your head, you get to move and sort stuff out with your body. It’s fun! And Sa-mekh looks funny doing it. Especially during the  adho mukha śvānāsana pose because they have to put their butts up in the air and Sa-mekh’s face gets a little green. It gets greener when the door slides open and Dad walks in. From the pose Tiberius does a somersault and then bounces up to meet Dad.

 

He hugs Dad’s leg! Dad’s back! Finally! Being the captain is too much work. When he looks up to see if Dad wants to try yoga with them, Dad doesn’t have a happy face on. And Sa-mekh is standing now. No! Tiberius doesn’t want yoga to be over. Tiberius is surprised when the monster roars in his chest, but it does roar and he wants to scream and make everyone do more yoga!

 

So he does scream. And yell. And cry. And he hears his Dad use cold, mean words: “Spock, it’s 0100, why the fuck is he up?” and so he throws his dinos at the wall and his pillow on the floor and his meditation mat at his parents. That makes them mad at him. Dad is moving towards him with an angry face. Tiberius doesn’t like angry faces! So when Dad touches his shoulder Tiberius hits his face.

 

His dad stumbles backwards and reaches up to cover his mouth. At first, Tiberius thinks Dad is surprised. Tiberius sees people cover their mouths when they’re surprised on holos. But then Sa-mekh is next to Dad and he’s moving Dad’s hand away and Tiberius sees that scary red blood Dad has dripping down his bottom lip.

 

It drip drip drips onto the floor, the same red as some of his dinos. The walls start to spin around him as he stares at the drips. Then, without warning the monster goes away and Tiberius falls backwards.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm sorry this took so long, this semester is kicking my ass.
> 
> Anyways this chapter is very mellow, this fic isn't necessarily plot based. It's more of a flowy narrative of Ty's life.
> 
> No guarantees for when the next chapter is coming out but I am writing it right now if that helps?

Tiberius sits on his floor and stares at all the dinos circling him. The soft synthetic green rug in his room is starting to shed little fluffs and he’s been rubbing bald spots into it when no one is looking. Currently there are three bald spots, each about the size of a grape. Tiberius is very proud of them.

 

As he grinds his thumb into the rug to make a new bald spot he considers everything that’s been happening. After he hurt Uncle Bones and Auntie Ota and Dad, his Sa-mekh helped him write sorry letters. 

 

Hitting is bad, he knows! And now Dad and Sa-mekh won’t let anyone babysit him. Instead they’ve been working separate shifts. It makes them grumpy sometimes. He digs a fingernail in the rug and watches a large green chunk come away. He hands it to a yellow triceratops next to his elbow. His eyes catch on a red ankylosaur, the same color as his dad’s bloody lip. It makes his stomach hurt to look at it so he rolls over and looks at his ceiling. It’s white. Like everything. He wonders why the world has so much white and silver and gray. 

 

“Dad.” Tiberius calls and waits. “Daaaaad.” After what feels like hours his door slides open and his Dad pokes his head in. His lip still has a dark red cut. Tiberius looks back at the ceiling, the white is boring but it’s safe.

 

“What’s up, Spaceman?”

 

“Why is everything always white all the time everywhere forever?” If Tiberius were looking he would see his dad walk over with a funny look on his face. Not funny like haha but funny like weird, there’s a difference abarently, at least that’s what Uncle Bones said. But his eyes totally never look away from the ceiling so he didn’t see that. Nope.

 

“Can I move these dinos?” Tiberius nods, his curly hair gets in his face and he blows it away. Dad scooches some dinos to the side and lays down next to him on the balding rug and runs a hand through Tiberius’ hair. “I think it’s time for a cut, what do you think?”

 

Tiberius nods again and keeps looking at the ceiling. Maybe he needs to ask again. He gives the ceiling a break from their staring contest to look over at Dad. His eyes are blue, but not like dino blue, they’re like the blue color the sky sometimes is when he gets to go down onto planets. Sometimes when Dad looks at him he forgets that he can’t feel his mind like Sa-mekh can, it just  _ feels _ like he can because Dad is so good at feelings.

 

His dad’s hand moves from his hair to his ear. “Daaaaaaaaaad,” he groans pulling away. Dad is always trying to touch his ears.

 

“The world isn’t always white, Ty.” His dad moves his hand away from his ear. Good. “The world can be a lot of colors.”

 

Tiberius thinks he understands. “Like blue and red and green and yellow?” 

 

His dad looks at the blue and red and green and yellow dinos scattered around them. His face gets kinda sad but not so sad that Tiberius feels like he needs to move away so the sadness doesn’t catch. “The world can be those colors, yeah. But, there are so many colors in between. I know it’s been awhile since you’ve been on-planet, but Sa-mekh and I are trying to fix that.”

 

Tiberius rolls onto his tummy. “I’m almost four,” he says and holds up four fingers to make sure Dad knows which number he’s talking about. “I will be four in twenty point eight days.” He doesn’t have enough fingers but he says it like Sa-mekh says it so he thinks Daddy will understand. “What am I gonna get for my birthday?”

 

Birthdays are nice because he usually gets presents from people. Presents are hard to get in the middle of space. His favorite present ever was his dinos he got last year from Uncle Hikky.

 

“It’s a surprise.” Tiberius frowns but his chest-monster doesn’t roar so he just lets out his air and rolls into Dad’s side for a cuddle.

 

_ _ _

 

Tiberius is six point nine days away from four when his Dad wakes him up super super early. Not that he can look out the window and see that it’s early but he just knows. His sa-mekh is teaching him to tell time in his head.

 

“Up an at ‘em, Spaceman! It’s time to start the day!”

 

“Daaaaaad,” Tiberius rolls over and sticks his head under his pillow. Like the extinct Terran ostrich.

 

“Tyyyyyyyyyy.” His dad says back, teasing him. “C’mon. We have to pack our bags! Sa-mekh is finishing up his meditation and then we’ll go!”

 

Tiberius pokes his head out from under his pillow. What? “Where are we going?” He reaches up to touch his curls and then remembers Uncle Bones cut his hair a few days ago. It barely touches his ears now. 

 

“It’s your birthday surprise!” His dad is on his knees looking through Tiberius’ dresser drawers. “Do you wanna bring this?” His dad holds up a green shirt with the anatomy of a star on it. Tiberius shrugs, he doesn’t care. His dad shrugs back and starts piling clothes into a long cylinder-ish bag. “Okey dokey. Looks good. Let’s pick some dinos to take with us.” 

 

Tiberius sucks in a breath. “I wanna take all my dinos.” He gets up and starts scooping his dinos into the really full bag of clothes. 

 

“I don’t think they’ll all fit, Ty.” Tiberius jams a brontosaurus into the bag as hard as he can. A funny feeling is starting in his chest, kind of like… oh no.

 

“I need all my dinos!” His chest-monster yells. “I have to take them all!” He scoops up another handful. He only has sixty dinos, that’s not that many! “I can’t leave them behind! I can’t!” He pushes harder and harder until -  _ rrrriip.  _ The weird cylinder bag breaks.

 

Oops. 

 

“...fuck.” Dad whispers, forgetting he can hear. “Ok, change of plans. Let’s find a box for your dinos and let’s see if the material replicator can make a duffel bag.” The chest-monster calms down and Tiberius kisses the top of a blue velociraptor’s tiny head. He gets to take them. They can all relax now.

 

His dad grabs his hand and drags him out into the hallway. It’s colder out here and louder. A few people are coming in and out of their rooms. That means it’s a shift change. Tiberius looks at his dad again, he’s wearing his yellow shirt and looks tired. That means he probably just finished his shift. 

 

When they get to the material replicators there are a few people waiting in line to use them. When they see Daddy they all say stuff like “oh, go ahead” but Daddy always says “no, thank you.” So they wait. 

 

“This is boring.” His velociraptor says. Tiberius agrees but he just broke Dad’s bag so he stays quiet. When they get to the front of the line Dad starts hitting buttons so fast Tiberius can’t keep up.

 

“Looks like we lucked out, Ty,” he says, his words are happy but he doesn’t seem as excited as he did earlier. “We can get a new duffel bag and a box for your dinos.” When the items are replicated Tiberius eagerly reaches up to grab the box. It’s smooth and silvery and should fit his dinos just fine. On the way back to their rooms they run into Uncle Pasha. Tiberius drops the box with a clang so he can fling his arms around the man.

 

“Uncle Pasha! We’re going somewhere!” He doesn’t say anything else because he doesn’t know if he’s happy about it yet.

 

“I know, your dad and sa-mekh have told me about this! It will be a lot of fun. New Wul-”

 

His dad starts to cough really loudly. Is he sick? Uncle Pasha stops before he finishes his words and Dad says bye and starts pulling him again. “C’mon Ty we still need to finish packing!”

 

_ _ _

 

He’s sitting on a the shuttle with Dad and Sa-mekh and Nancy when he starts to think that maybe this present isn’t really a present.

 

Maybe he’s in trouble. In space, when someone does something bad they get locked in a room and then sent away to get locked in another room somewhere. Maybe that’s what’s happening to him. He hurt people, maybe he’s going to… what’s that word?

 

“Prison,” Nancy whispers to him. She looks scared and keeps looking out the window.  From his spot he can’t see out but that’s fine. It’s always just silvery white stars. But this… prison, does not sound good. 

 

And now that he’s really thinking about it, only bad things happen fast. When something good is coming Dad and Sa-mekh tell him about it. It’s the bad stuff that happens too quick for words, like when the ship will start to shake and whoever he’s with will grab him and take him to an escape pod. They never use the pod, they just sit there. Or like when bad people come on board and he has to hide wherever Daddy says. Bad is fast. Or fast is bad?

 

This present is happening fast. Tiberius strokes his blue velociraptor, it makes him feel less scared. His dad and sa-mekh are sitting across the little hallway on the other side of the shuttle. He projects his feelings at Sa-mekh, Tiberius knows his sa-mekh would never lie. So if he asks him about prison he’ll tell the truth… right?

 

His Sa-mekh turns to look at him, feeling his emotions. A second later Dad looks too. Dad and Sa-mekh talk in their heads sometimes, Tiberius wants to try that someday.

 

“Tiberius, there is no reason to be apprehensive. I assure you this excursion is one you will enjoy.” Tiberius takes a deep breath and Nancy pats his shoulder. Phew. “However, if you are feeling nervous perhaps we should engage in a game, to calm your nerves.”

 

A game! Tiberius pops out of his seat and crawls into Sa-mekh’s lap. “Yes, yes! Twenty questions!” He cheers and free-falls backwards trusting that Dad will catch him. He does.

 

“Very well. Although, I do have one condition.” Tiberius quiets and sits on the arm rest between his parents’ seats, eyes on Sa-mekh. “We must only speak in Vulcan.”

 

Oof. Vulcan be hard. “You can do it!” His velociraptor says. Tiberius nods, yeah, he can do that.

 

_ _ _

  
  


“Nam-tor ish-va weht suk' do wuh tribble?” _ Is it bigger than a tribble? _

 

“Ish- _ veh _ ,” his sa-mekh corrects him. “Ish-veh nam-tor weht suk' do wuh tribble.”  _ It is bigger than a tribble. _

 

Dad doesn’t look up from his old paper book as they play. Tiberius knows his dad knows what Sa-mekh’s mystery creature is but he won’t give any hints!

 

Tiberius looks down at his dino. “Tor ish-veh pla-kur?”  _ Is it blue? _

 

Suddenly, the whole shuttle starts to glow red. Oh no! Tiberius slips from the armrest into Sa-mekh’s lap and grips his shirt tight, burrowing his face into his collarbone. Dad and Sa-mekh look over where Nancy is sitting. 

 

“Ty, look!” His dad says, nudging him gently. But Ty is scared, it could be anything! “Tyty, c’mon. This is your birthday surprise!”

 

Oh. Well, then it’s probably not something horrible. Like angry Klingons attacking their shuttle. He loosens his grip on sa-mekh’s shirt and peers across the aisle. Oh.

 

“Is that…” He’s studied most of the Federation planets with his parents and he’s pretty sure the giant red planet outside the shuttle window is New Vulcan, which was actually called Gunli XII before Vulcan got sucked up. But then, there are lots of red planets out there and he’s not sure.

 

“Welcome to New Vulcan.” His dad whispers before surprising him with a tickle attack.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, an update already? It's almost like I'm procrastinating doing the mountain of homework I have due.
> 
> Anyways, here's chapter three. I don't translate every Vulcan word in this because Ty doesn't necessarily know all the translations and I feel like the context explains everything.
> 
> Ty's internal voice is maturing a little too because he's now receiving a formal education, wow. And Vulcan schools are of course very different and much harder than Human schools so I took some artistic liberties.
> 
> Enjoy!

For the first time in his life, Tiberius feels warm. He never knew that he was cold before, never really knew anything different. But New Vulcan is so warm. Like cuddles with Dad and Sa-mekh and sitting in Engineering with Scotty and getting his hair blow-dried by Uncle Bones were mushed into a soft hug.

 

Tiberius feels good.

 

“Oh my God, Spock, I’m dying.” His dad does not feel good. Tiberius looks at his dad again, he’s wearing a lot of clothes. Which probably doesn’t help, but Sa-mekh said that his dad will get burned by the sun (burned by the sun!) if he doesn’t cover his skin. His dad’s face is mostly hidden under a scarf that’s around his head and sunglasses. All Tiberius can really see is his dad’s sweaty pink cheeks.

 

It’s too bad Humans don’t like hot things, Tiberius thinks, because New Vulcan is super super awesome. Red rocks the size of starships grow out of the ground all around. It makes Tiberius feel a little like he’s in a bowl of plomeek soup and any minute a giant face will look down at him from the sky and scoop him up. But that doesn’t happen, the orange sky doesn’t change. 

 

And New Vulcan is full of colors! So many colors that Tiberius has never seen! Oranges and reds and browns that he didn’t know existed! They’re nothing like the oranges and reds and browns he’s found on the  _ Enterprise _ .

 

He has a green pterodactyl in his pocket though, because that color doesn’t seem to exist here. They’ve been on New Vulcan for fifty six point four hours now. They’re staying in a small house that sits in a neat row of small houses. They’re all a dark orangey red, just like the rocks, and the only way to tell their house apart from the others is the number on the front: 549882. Sa-mekh made him memorize it.

 

“That is why we are going to the market, Jim. We must obtain adequate clothing for our stay here.” Sa-mekh is lacing his black boots, getting ready for their walk. Tiberius is so excited to see the market! He doesn’t know what a market is, but Dad says they’re going to buy stuff! Stuff like food, and bed sheets, and new clothes. Stuff they need because Dad says they’ll be living on New Vulcan for at least a month, standard time.

 

A month. A month!

 

Nancy pushes some red dirt around with her bare feet. Her skin is red too, but a different red. It looks pretty with the dirt clinging to her ankles in little dusty patterns. She giggles to herself and jumps, sending a little red cloud into the air when her feet come back down. Tiberius sits down near her feet, they’re in the street but the street is just dust and dirt and no one else is outside. The sun bakes down and Tiberius feels so good, he draws a little line in the dirt on the top of Nancy’s foot.

 

“Ty, c’mon!” Tiberius jerks up with surprise. His parents are standing a bit away, watching him. “Tyty I really wanna get to the market before noon. I can’t handle this heat.” His dad has his hand stretched towards him, waiting. Tiberius bounces up, leaving Nancy to her dust clouds, takes Dad’s hand and walks with this parents down the quiet street.

 

_ _ _

 

It’s his birthday. Tiberius yawns and swings his feet back and forth from his perch on a shiny silver chair. Why does his birthday have to be so boring? He stares at the white wall in front of him. It reminds him of the  _ Enterprise.  _ The whole building does, with its whites and silvers and grays.

 

He wants to go outside and roll around in the red dust.

 

“What are they saying?” Nancy asks. Tiberius lets out his air and looks over to where his parents are talking to a lady. A teacher.

 

“Um um.” Tiberius sticks the tail of his dino in his mouth to suck on. His Sa-mekh and the teacher lady are talking fast in Vulcan and Tiberius doesn’t know all the words. Vulcan is hard. He catches a few bits.

 

“...zherka...haul-tor…” 

 

“Sa-mekh is talking about emotions and meditating.” Tiberius shrugs and bites his dino gently. His dad is frowning a little. Vulcan is hard for him too. Tiberius is excited for school. He’s been waiting for school. But now that he’s here, he thinks maybe he doesn’t wanna go. School is cold and white and he hasn’t even seen any other kids yet!

 

And now that he’s thinking. He can feel that Sa-mekh is upset. No. Mad? Maybe mad. Tiberius doesn’t like mad. 

 

He hops off his chair, his feet making a loud slap on the floor. He’s tired of sitting. It’s his birthday! The noise gets the attention of the grown-ups and they walk over towards him. Is he in trouble? 

 

“Tiberius, na'shaya. T'nash-veh ahm nam-tor T’Rao. I dungi nem-tor du tor ish-veh Saven-tor Ub i'.”  _ Tiberis, greetings. My name is T’Rao. I will take you to your... _

 

Tiberius squints up at her. What? “What is Saven-tor Ub?” He asks in Standard, Sa-mekh wants him to talk Vulcan now but it’s so hard and he likes Standard.

 

“It is your Pedagogy Dome, it will be where you conduct your studies.” Sa-mekh says, hands folded behind his back. Tiberius wants to ask what pedagogy and dome mean but then his dad is crouching in front of him.

 

“This is it, Spaceman. Your first day of school.” Tiberius nods, yeah, duh, that’s why they’re here. Dad is silly sometimes. But then his dad is hugging him tight and close and his cheek is brushing up against Tiberius’ and -

 

Tiberius pushes away. Dad is sad. Like really really sad. And the sad is catching and Tiberius does not want to touch him anymore. He steps back and frowns at Dad. Dad doesn’t look sad, he’s smiling with his shiny white teeth all showing. It’s confusing.

 

“Have a nice day. Learn lots. Do what the teachers say.” His dad is standing and Sa-mekh is moving closer to him, touching his Daddy’s elbow lightly. He can feel Dad’s sad too. T’Rao asks  him to follow her as she starts walking really fast down the bright white hall away from his parents. Tiberius turns to follow her. After a few steps he looks back. Daddy waves and Sa-mekh nods and Tiberius shoves his dino deep into the pocket of his long gray robes. 

 

T’Rao is holding a door open for him and right before he walks in he thinks he smells salty water, but then he’s through the doors and all he smells are machines and dry rock.

 

The room is dark and cold and quiet. It turns out, that the Saven-tor Ub are holes in the ground that light up. He and T-Rao walk past a bunch with kids in them before they get to an empty one.

 

The hole talks to him when he gets in. It asks a lot of questions and then shows him a video of giant fish things that used to live on Earth called “whales” and starts telling him about why they aren’t there anymore. It’s interesting.

 

“Ra aisha whales tor hal-tor ek'tevik?”  _ What caused whales to go extinct?  _ the hole asks in a voice that sounds like the  _ Enterprise _ ’s computer’s voice.

 

Oh. Tiberius didn’t know the hole was going to ask that. He doesn’t know the words he wants to use either. He sits down suddenly, standing seems like too much work right now. “Ra aisha whales tor hal-tor ek'tevik?” the hole repeats.

 

Tiberius sucks in a breath. He doesn’t know how to answer in Vulcan. Why is everything in Vulcan?

 

“Ra aisha whales tor hal-tor ek'tevik?” the hole asks again. Tiberius feels his throat start to stick. Oh no. His chest-monster is waking up. He just wants to go outside and see the warm sun. He wants to roll in the dirt and maybe climb a red mountain. He wants to go.

 

“Ra aisha whales tor hal-tor ek'tevik?”

 

His chest monster screams.

_ _ _

 

His second day of school is different. It’s really really hot, more than normal, so only Sa-mekh walks him to the school building while Dad stays at home. He misses Dad’s hugs but Sa-mekh places a hand on his shoulder before he leaves. It’s okay. It’s okay.  

 

T’Rao takes him to a room in a different hallway. This room is warm and has windows and the floor is made of soft yellow sand. 

 

Tiberius likes it. There are four other children in the room. They look tiny. Tinier than him. That probably means they’re younger. A skinny old man sits in the center of the room. His eyes are closed and Tiberius knows he’s meditating like Sa-mekh does.

 

Tiberius is not good at meditating. But these other children aren’t meditating, they’re walking around and drawing pictures in the sand and one really tiny baby looks like she’s sleeping in a corner.

 

This room is weird. Tiberius likes it.

 

He walks up to a boy who’s writing the Vulcan alphabet in the sand. “Hi. I’m Tiberius.”

 

The boy looks up. “Ra?”  _ What? _

 

Tiberius is about to say it again, but in Vulcan. But then the old man stands up and all the children freeze. Tiberius looks again, the man is really old with crinkly skin and white hair. What if he’s mean? Sometimes important old people come on the  _ Enterprise _ and they can be so bossy, even to Daddy and he’s the captain! The man is wearing yellow robes though, and this is the first time Tiberius has seen someone on New Vulcan wearing robes that aren’t red or brown or gray.

 

“Rom asal,” he says in a soft voice that reminds Tiberius of the whispery sounds the ship computer makes when she’s thinking,  _ Good morning _ .

 

“Rom asal.” The other children say and suddenly they’re all moving to sit in front of the man. Tiberius feels a flutter in his tummy. Is he supposed to say good morning too? Is he supposed to sit? Where is he supposed to sit? His eyes start to feel hot and wet. Oh no.

 

But then the man is looking at him. “Rom asal,” he says again, “sarlah hayal-tor la'”  _ come sit here. _ He points to an empty spot next to a little girl whose hair is piled on top of her head in thick black braids. So Tiberius does. 

_ _ _

 

Every day is really hot now. Sa-mekh says this is a season. He calls it belaar. Dad calls it summer. Tiberius likes it and he can tell Sa-mekh does too. When he picks Tiberius up from school they walk through some city gardens before they go home and Sa-mekh asks him how his day was and what he learned.

 

Usually, he learns how to tash. Tash is how he keeps his chest-monster away. His teacher, Sunril, says that all Vulcans tash. They all have chest-monsters but they don’t let the monster win.

 

Tiberius likes Sunril. Likes that he doesn’t get angry when Tiberius’ chest-monster comes out.

 

Then he’ll see Dad. Dad is usually inside their tiny red house wearing really thin robes that Tiberius can see through if Dad walks in front of a lamp. But even then, Dad is always wet and sticky with sweat. He’s usually working on his PADD.

 

Tiberius feels bad for Dad. Staying inside all day sounds boring.

 

_ _ _

 

“What does tash mean?” Nancy asks him. Tiberius looks up from his math. Sunril is asking them math questions and having them find answers in the sand. He traces the symbol for a dahkuk  _ two _ .

 

“It means tash.” Tiberius answers. Tash is tash, how else can he say it? Nancy lets out her air. 

 

“But what does it mean?” She’s loud now and Sunril has asked them to be quiet.

 

“Shh.” Tiberius squints at Nancy, her blue hair is shorter now, it stops under her roundy ears. “Did you get your hair cut?” He asks, forgetting to be quiet.

 

He feels Sunril looking at him so he quickly draws a squiggly stehkuk.

 

_ _ _

 

“Glazhau na' ish-veh isachya.”  _ Look at his hair.  _ A boy in his class whispers to the girl next to him. It’s khi-gad-yem, and he’s eating the pizza Dad packed for him. 

 

“Glazhau na' ish-veh yem-tukh.” _ Look at his food. _ The little girl whispers back. Tiberius looks at his pizza. It looks okay. It has Terran mushrooms, his favorite. He reaches up to touch his hair, is there something in it? He doesn’t feel anything. His hair is different though, all the boys in his class have straight black hair that hangs right above their eyebrows. 

“Au nam-tor flekh.”  _ He is weird. _

 

Tash. Tiberius thinks. Tash, tash, tash. He keeps his chest-monster in but a tear falls down his cheek. He wipes it away quickly. No one else cries, so he shouldn’t either.

 

_ _ _

 

It hurts. Tiberius is tugging at his hair. Ow. Ow. Ow. But he keeps tugging. He needs it to stop curling. Ow. Ow. Ow. How do the boys in class get their hair so straight? Does it hurt them too? His chest-monster is awake and so so angry, walking around in his chest. Tash. Tash.

 

He takes a breath. It sounds funny, shaky, like when a ventilation chamber breaks on the  _ Enterprise _ .

 

“Hey, Spaceman, you ready? Sa-mekh is waiting.” Dad knocks on the bathroom door. No! He’s running out of time. Ow. Ow. Ow. Why won’t the curls go away? A hot tear escapes and he wipes it away. Tash tash tash tash tash -

 

The door opens. And then Dad is looking at him and his head is hurting and his hair looks even curlier. Tiberius starts to cry.

_ _ _

 

“He can’t… No...”

 

His parents are trying to be quiet but the house is small. They’re talking about him.

 

“...agree...bullying…” Why don’t they talk in their heads? If Tiberius could talk in someone’s head he would never say anything out loud again.

 

“Maybe your dad forgets.” Nancy suggests, she’s petting his head softly. After Dad found him crying in the bathroom he told Tiberius he wouldn’t be going to school today. Tiberius is okay with that. But his head really hurts now, it feels like it’s on fire.

 

A few minutes later (three-point-four-five) his parents stop whispering and sit with him.

 

“Tiberius,” Sa-mekh says from his spot on Tiberius’ bed. “Do you know where your curls come from?” On his other side, Dad is rubbing circles on his back. Tiberius crawls into Dad’s lap, it’s soft and warm, and Dad is probably too hot, he’s always too hot these days, but Sa-mekh doesn’t like to cuddle now that they’re on New Vulcan.

 

“No.” He didn’t know curls could come from a place.

 

“Your curls come from my mother.”

 

“Amanda.” Tiberius says, he’s heard of her. She got sucked up on Vulcan. It’s very sad. Sa-mekh always says that she would have loved him.

 

“Yes, Amanda. She had brown, curly hair, too.” Tiberius reaches up to touch his hair but it still hurts so he puts his hand down. It looks like Sa-mekh wants to say more, but he stops.

 

So instead Dad says, from behind Tiberius’ shoulder, “Your hair is beautiful, Ty. Those other kids are mean, just ignore them. Being different is a good thing. If everyone was the same the world would be a very boring place, right?” He wraps his arms around Tiberius’ tummy and it feels safe.

 

And Tiberius has never really thought about it but he says “right,” because Dad is waiting.

 

_ _ _

 

At school the children are still mean. But he has Nancy so it’s okay. And now Sa-mekh makes his lunches.

 

But now that Dad said the thing about being different, it’s all Tiberius can see.

 

He sees the little girl whose hair isn’t long like the other girls’.

 

He sees Sunril, with his soft soft voice and bright robes.

 

He sees a boy who only has one eye.

 

He sees a little kushel that only hops on the ground instead of flying.

 

He sees his dad. His dad with pink skin and red blood and blue eyes and yellow hair and round ears and curved eyebrows and a face that smiles and frowns.

 

His dad is really different. 

 

One day, the heat doesn’t come. Belaar isn’t over, Sa-mekh says, it’s just a weird day. But Dad is super happy. His smiles show less teeth and his eyes get all crinkly and he says he’s gonna walk to school with Sa-mekh and him. And Tiberius’ heart starts to beat fast in his side. 

 

His dad is really different. 

 

And during khi-gad-yem, while eating the l-lerka Sa-mekh packed, the children in his class talk about Dad. Tash. Tash.

And then when everyone is writing the spelling words, T’Li draws a mean picture of Dad. Tash. Tash.

 

And then during meditation, and Tiberius really hates meditation, Surtin puts his hand on Tiberius’ arm. And Tiberius can feel it. Surtin is trying to make his feelings catch. And it’s working. Tiberius can feel the  _ gross gross gross _ . And he knows it’s about Dad. Tash tash tash tash -

 

His chest-monster roars.

 

And when Dad and Sa-mekh pick him up, T’Rao is there and she’s telling them to find a new school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, in case you were wondering: yes, Jim started crying when Ty left with T'Rao on the first day. And Spock was "mad" because the school was insisting they place Ty with the other 3 and 4 year olds.
> 
> The second classroom he ends up in is for 1-2 year olds. With the language barrier and the emotional maturity, it was a better fit for him. Which is what Spock had been trying to explain but Vulcan schools don't think parents know best. Lame.
> 
> So yeah, that was chapter 3. Please tell me what you think. This fic can go anywhere rn so feedback is good. Help me shape the story lol.


End file.
